I wanna talk about Viktorās room at the Katsukisā Onsen.Ā
A room says a lot about you. I mean, just look at Yuuriās room. We are made to understand right from the start who he is.
Yuuriās room was designed to really hammer the point across that heās the biggest Nikiforov fan out there. And letās be honest, although we learn a lotĀ about who Yuuri is, from his anxiety to his competitiveness, his developing relationship with Viktor is the heart of Yuri!!! On Ice.
Viktor has moved into his new room temporarily but heās pretty damn extra and brought everything with him so thereās a lot in there to look at.
So essentially this is Viktorās room. Itās pretty self-explanatory for the most part. Weāve got the lamps he clearly likes as we see them in his Russian apartment in ep 1. Matryoshka dolls, because he Russian duh, giant bed to share with Makka, books to read. Then thereās a large artsy painting of a woman and a, no doubt heavy af, stone sculpture. These two things show that Viktorās got money, that heās classy, and that heās extra. All pretty straightforward.
So what really interests me about Viktorās room is the photo frame. More specifically, the frame that holds a picture of himself.Ā
Unlike painting and posters, photo frames are far more personal.Ā
Yuuri has posters of his idol, okay yes there are a lot, but itās still pretty regular behaviour. But something that I, and many others from what Iāve seen, found super endearing was that he had multipleĀ framed photos of Viktor. Thatās far more personal, and it really hinted at Yuuriās stronger feelings.Ā
So then we have Viktorās room, and the only photo frame he brings with him holds a picture of himself.Ā
At first, I thoughtĀ damn isnāt that arrogant? So conceited, it's actually a bit cringe even.Ā
But then, this is Viktor. Yes heās a legend, yes he knows it, but heās never truly flaunted it. That doesnāt seem very in characterĀ to present him this way.Ā
I wondered if maybe it was Yuuri who put it in there. After all, Yuuri clearly had the same poster--Ā
-- which we saw him take down from his room.
But then, that seems unlikely. That would defy the point of hiding the posters in the first place! Plus, look at Viktor moving in.
The room is completely bare, there wasnāt anything in there. Everything came from Viktorās boxes. The frame had to have been his.
So, thinking of what I know of Viktor, one of the things that stands out the most about him was that skating was his everything. No life and love as he much later explained, but that was fair to assume even in ep 1, given that he was a legend. The sport clearly took up a lot of time!
If someone wanted to frame a picture, what would they pick? A picture of their family? A shot of them with their friends? A cute pic of them and their dog? It would be a picture close to them, something or someone that matters. And what does ViktorĀ have?
A picture of himself skating.
Because his whole life has been his skating career, he pretty much knows nothing else. He even admitted that he rarely got to spend time with Makkachin before.Ā
Looking at it that way, the picture is suddenly really sad.Ā
When you move to another country, youād want a reminder of the people you love, of home. Viktor brings a reminder of skating because itās all heās known, and itās the thing heās going to miss most.Ā
Because, think about it. He skates and skates and skates, and now it stops. He knows that choosing to be a coach means putting skating aside. His skating is framed there on his table, because itās like looking at a missed loved one for him.Ā
But this is actually really beautiful. Because,Ā throughout the entire series, we donāt really see a Viktor who mourns the fact that heās not practicing a routine for himself. Yuuri doesnāt catch him skating by himself thoughtfully, missing having the ice all to himself. Not once do we see that on their journey! Viktor is completely engrossed in coaching Yuuri, and now he only skates to teach him. His devotion is so genuine. IĀ knew thatĀ Viktor loved Yuuri to have put everything on hold like that for him, but I didnāt know it like this. Ā
I really want to see Victorās photo frame in season 2. My moneyās on YuuriĀ being in that picture.